Failure to Maintain Clean Curtains, Equipment, and Walls in Resident Rooms
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to maintain a safe, clean, and comfortable environment in multiple resident rooms. In one room on the 300 hall, a severely cognitively impaired resident’s privacy curtain closest to the window was observed on two separate dates with multiple dark brown/red stains. The assigned housekeeper, who was responsible for replacing soiled or stained privacy curtains, acknowledged that the curtain needed to be changed but could not explain why it had not been replaced earlier in the week. The Housekeeping Manager stated that housekeepers were responsible for changing curtains when soiled or stained and agreed that the curtain should have been changed as soon as the markings were noticed. In another room on the 200 hall, a severely cognitively impaired resident’s oxygen concentrator was observed on two separate dates with visible white particles all over the top surface. The housekeeper assigned to that room confirmed that it was her responsibility to wipe down oxygen concentrators in resident rooms and acknowledged that she had not noticed that the concentrator needed to be cleaned prior to the surveyor’s observation. The Housekeeping Manager reported that oxygen concentrators and other medical equipment in resident rooms were supposed to be cleaned weekly and additionally whenever dirty, dusty, or soiled, and that this concentrator should have been cleaned during the scheduled cleaning. In a third room on the 200 hall, a severely cognitively impaired resident was observed lying in bed with his left knee bent and resting on the wall, where dark red marks in a dripping pattern were present. A nurse aide identified the drippings as blood and showed the resident’s knee with three scabbed areas, stating that the wall had not been cleaned since she started working at the facility two weeks earlier. She did not notify housekeeping about the blood stains and could not provide a reason, stating she “just did not think about it.” The housekeeper later reported that she only noticed and cleaned the dark red marks on the wall the day before the interview, and the Housekeeping Manager stated that daily room cleaning was expected to include wiping down vertical and horizontal surfaces, including walls, and that the stains should have been noticed and cleaned during routine cleaning.
We Help Long-Term Care Teams Stay Survey-Ready
We process and analyze inspection reports and plan of correction using AI to extract insights and trends so providers can improve care quality and stay ahead of compliance risks.